NMW to increase again next year to £12.21 ph.

So you would be happy with a rise in UC instead

I run a business with 25-30 staff on average, all paid above minimum wage currently.
The increase in NMW, plus huge increases in employers National Insurance expected to be announced this week, mean I'm facing a tough call as to whether to employ less full-time staff or just less staff in general, or potentially give notice on my business, as these increase combined with energy & food/drink costs above the rate of inflation make it borderline viable.
It's pretty soul destroying right now.

Also agreed.

If you have to exploit people, your business isn't viable.

Supermarkets don't need to, they choose to prioritise shareholders ahead of customers and employees.

@ExitViaGiftShop

The govt needs to put a stop to people being subsided by state benefits because companies do not pay their workers enough! employers, especially the large businesses, need to pay their staff properly! They need to take the hit, not the tax payer!

This.

Too many businesses have been getting away with paying their staff peanuts and expecting the taxpayer to supplement their poverty wages through the benefit system.

All workers should get a decent salary, not have to rely on benefits while in work.

The budget could be a disaster for a lot of smaller business but also big charities and retailers who are going to be hit with an NI increase and minimum wage increase. It will mean redundancies unfortunately. If you look at the profits of even some of the very big retailers a lot won’t be able to sustain that.

I do think that public services need to be funded better but the economy seems so fragile It feels very risky to place a lot of burden on business. As harsh as it sounds, many of the people making decisions on this on the treasury are incredibly bright but clueless re the real world implications of some of what they’re about to unleash in the budget.

I would have agreed with this until seeing the extortionate utility rises over the last few years. It's becoming unsustainable for small businesses no matter how efficient they are. Market readjustment won't be more functional efficient businesses, it will be survival of only the large (tax avoiding, employee exploiting) corporations with capacity to swallow losses.

I think it's great news! Work needs to pay better! All of my friends who have professional jobs not in the public sector have had a lot of pay rises.

Indeed.

https://www.themantic-education.com/ibpsych/2021/08/18/key-studies-workplace-stress-status-and-the-whitehall-studies/?origin=serp_auto

Good for you OP. If you feel unappreciated and very qualified then leave. If you live in one of the many areas of the UK lacking in quality, well-paid jobs then good luck to you finding a suitable NMW job.

And you'll be up against many people with experience in working NMW jobs for their living, so you might not be the hotshot you think you are. And the 'unmentionable' ageism - what with your 'advanced' years some employers might assume you as being not so physically capable of carrying out the required duties.

But you go forth and......do you.....or whatever

I am looking at expanding my business next year. The increase combined with a most likely reduction in the employers NI threshold will mean I employ one member of staff not two and that one member will be on a lower hours contract than I had originally hoped. Labour are so anti business it's unreal. But I knew that. I'm just a tiny little business, not some massive CEO rolling around in my bid mansion. If they announce they are doing away with the small business relief on rates it will mean I can't expand at all.

£5.5k a year.

I'm thinking about this in relation to student loans, by the time this year's cohort have graduated basically working ft will mean you have reached the threshold to start paying it back. There will be no exemption for those "on low wages" unless they're working pt

Sadly not lots of skilled people such as carers are being exploited by companies trying to get away with paying the absolute bare minimum. £12.21 ph is less than £24k a year; No one can live on that unless they’re in social housing and even then it’s massively pushing it.

I totally get that it seems unfair for other people who currently get paid marginally more after training but there are many “unskilled” minimum wage jobs that actually require great skill and these have historically been regarded as less worthy.

It doesn't pay to be loyal to an employer

OP I agree. It’s all well and good saying if you can’t afford to pay staff £12ph don’t have a business, but people are failing to see the knock on effect.

Local cafe prices will rocket up. Nursery fees, up, and places down (because settings will close). Same goes for care homes. Supermarket prices will climb. Pretty much everything is going to go up, which is fine, but the problem is when folks on 25-40k ish aren’t given equivalent percentage pay rises they become out of pocket, disadvantaged and their skills devalued. It’s a whole mess

There is so much more to work than just the take home pay though. I see it as similar to the argument for staying in work when you have high childcare costs which swallow up most of your wages. It gives you pension contributions, potential for promotion, better work experience and developing skills. There's no respect for those in unskilled NMW jobs just as there is none for sahms.

I think as it continues to raise and yes tories and labour. Many more people really
will reconsider if a £1 or £2 above minimum is worth the extra pressure or load placed upon them.

Why be a warehouse manager for £15 an hour when you can just be the picker and packer for £12. Also the manager is often actually salary where as the pick and pack hourly so can out earn their manager some
months when lots of overtime is about.

I'd rather people were paid a decent wage by their employer, paying more tax and NI in the process, than have their low wages topped up by universal credit and the like. We have got to stop subsidising the Tescos of the world.

That said, I entirely agree with the OP, it is a worry for smaller firms. The charity I used to work at had bands based around the NMW so when it goes up, all other wages keep pace - which is only right and proper, but I can see this will start to bite.

This, as a business owner.

pretty much this
if your business model relies on paying people peanuts and relying on tax payers to subsidise their wage with UC then you shouldn't be in business